Summer Poem by John Clare

Summer

Rating: 3.2


Come we to the summer, to the summer we will come,
For the woods are full of bluebells and the hedges full of bloom,
And the crow is on the oak a-building of her nest,
And love is burning diamonds in my true lover's breast;
She sits beneath the whitethorn a-plaiting of her hair,
And I will to my true lover with a fond request repair;
I will look upon her face, I will in her beauty rest,
And lay my aching weariness upon her lovely breast.

The clock-a-clay is creeping on the open bloom of May,
The merry bee is trampling the pinky threads all day,
And the chaffinch it is brooding on its grey mossy nest
In the whitethorn bush where I will lean upon my lover's breast;
I'll lean upon her breast and I'll whisper in her ear
That I cannot get a wink o'sleep for thinking of my dear;
I hunger at my meat and I daily fade away
Like the hedge rose that is broken in the heat of the day.

Summer
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Michael Morgan 07 July 2014

Ho-Hum. This poet is overwhelmed by convention. Little wonder he went mad.

4 7 Reply
Michael Morgan 07 July 2014

Ho-hum; this poem suffers from convention. Little wonder he went mad.

4 5 Reply
Kevin Straw 07 July 2012

Brilliant! I find in Clare the pure spring of genius. An education might have ruined this crystal view. These are the words of an angel who has lived all his life in heaven. Yet Clare had the humblest beginnings.

5 1 Reply
* Sunprincess * 28 June 2014

..........so beautiful and so poetic.....this is truly a classic poem...

5 1 Reply
Ramesh T A 07 July 2011

A dream like mid summer time poem telling about the lover having relief at last on the bosom of his lady love is simple and easy to read. It is quite enjoyable too to be transported to that situation!

4 1 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 14 August 2024

A very beautiful poem, so mny descriptions from aroud iur person, it is truly a vert enjoyable read. Fantastic poet, !

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 14 August 2024

Whoever he is/was, know that his biographer Jonathan Bate states that Clare was 'the greatest labouring-class poet that England has ever produced. No one has ever written more powerfully of nature, of a rural childhood, and of the alienated and unstable self'.

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 14 August 2024

Now I will be short: Summer' celebrates the beauty of nature, the intensity of love, and the longing for companionship during this enchanting time of year. Clare's poetic environmentalism shines through as he captures the essence of summer in his verse

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 14 August 2024

Most deserving poem chosen again by Poem Hunter and Team as The Classic Poem Of The Day. Hooray! TOP Marks 5 Stars. I have enjoyed very much

0 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 20 June 2024

5 Stars for this Classic Poem Of The day. TFS. Most deserving chosen by Poem Hunter and Team

1 0 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
John Clare

John Clare

Northamptonshire / England
Close
Error Success